Seoul: South Korean stocks traded sharply higher late Friday morning driven by gains in semiconductor and internet shares. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) added 42.18 points, or 1.19 percent, to 3,591.39 as of 11:20 a.m.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the index hovered around the 3,600 level in intraday trading after touching the landmark line for the first time early in the morning. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics increased 5.06 percent and chip giant SK hynix jumped 6.32 percent following U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia's 1.8 percent gain on Wall Street overnight.

The gains were led by the U.S. government's approval of Nvidia's chip sales for U.S. projects in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Internet portal operators Naver and Kakao advanced 5.73 percent and 3.02 percent, respectively.

Leading zinc smelter Korea Zinc went up 6.2 percent, and oil refinery S-Oil spiked 7.54 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,419.75 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 19.35 won from the previous session.